


Back to You

by Clarebella



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 00:27:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6261913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarebella/pseuds/Clarebella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after the season finale. One of my ideas/scenarios of Christeal journey back to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back to You

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I don't own Code Black, purely for fun and all that!
> 
> This story kind of got away from me, and I ran out of ideas and had a hard time wrapping it up. I wasn't going to post it - but I figure some Christeal fanfiction is better than none! Non-betaed and only proofread a few time! Don't mind the mistakes.  
> So I hope you enjoy!

“I won’t be anyone’s second choice,”

 

Neal stood frozen at the bottom of the staircase, staring at Christa’s back as she walked up the staircase and disappeared into the corridor. What the hell had just happened? He knew what had happened – he made a royal mess of everything. And he had hurt her. She was strong, he knew, but he could see the deep hurt in her eyes as she spoke to him. She was correct too, she deserved so much better than he had given her these last weeks.  Grace coming back had really thrown him for a loop. If he was being honest, he knew that he had never really dealt with his feelings properly after Grace had left, he hadn’t really needed to. He just threw himself into his work, and until he met Christa, the idea of another relationship hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Neal?” He heard Grace say from behind him.

Neal spun around and saw her standing there with a concerned look on her face. She reached out a hand, and Neal flinched, “Not now Grace” he rasped out as he brushed past her and strode down the hall.

****

Christa made her way to the locker room at a fast clip, then headed straight for a bathroom stall. Once inside she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her heart was pounding and the sting of tears pricked the back of her eyes. She dragged in deep breaths, desperately trying to calm herself and stop the tears that threatened to flow.  A few minutes later, she had calmed down and her heart wasn’t racing as fast. She was proud of herself for keeping it together and being able to walk away from Neal, even though her heart screamed at her to stop and turn around. She took a deep breath and opened the stall door. There was only a few hours left in the shift, she decided to go find Leanne and ask her if she could work the waiting room for the rest of her shift. Less chance of running into Grace, and no chance at all of running into Neal. It was too fresh, she didn’t think she could handle that right now.

Christa found Leanne, and after the ER Director gave her a strange look, agreed to Christa’s request – unless they hit Code Black again of course.

About an hour later, they hit code black, and Christa rushed the patient in with Dr. Guthrie, calling to the nurses to call surgery. She heard Neal’s voice answer “I’m here” but she didn’t look up, not wanting to meet his eyes. Christa switched to auto pilot, Dr. Guthrie took the lead, and in no time the patient was stabilized and heading up to the OR with Neal.

Leanne watched from the sidelines as Christa slipped out of center stage and headed back to the triage area. She had noticed how Neal had flicked his gaze towards Christa over and over, and how Christa avoided all eye contact. Leanne sighed, she had wondered if Grace’s return would have some kind of effect on the couple. She rolled her eyes inwardly, sure that Neal’s propensity for silence and need to carefully select his words had gotten him into a world of problems.

***

It was the end of shift, Christa stood at her locker, digging in her purse looking for her keys. She hadn’t been home in a few days, and she was hoping that she hadn’t left her keys at Neal’s place. She found them buried at the bottom and let out a relieved breath. She ran her fingers over the little truck on the shelf with a wistful smile, and closed the door, turning to leave, only to find Grace hovering near the doorway, her eyes filled with either contriteness or pity, Christa couldn’t tell and frankly didn’t have the energy to try. Christa closed her eyes for a moment, willing herself to stay calm.

“Christa,” Grace started and took a step toward the resident, “I-“

Christa cut her off by lifting her hand slightly in a stop motion, and shaking her head. Christa swallowed audibly and addressed the doctor with a calm voice “Shift is over Dr. Adams, I really need to get going, so please excuse me.” And with that Christa brushed past her and out the door. Christa passed Leanne and Jesse by the nurse’s station, giving them a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes and a wave as she exited the ER and headed out to the parking lot. As soon as she got outside, she stopped, throwing her head back in frustration, remembering that she didn’t have her car. She looked around and saw Mario a bit in front of her, she called out to him and jogged to catch up.

“Can you give me a ride home?” Christa asked.

Mario raised his eyebrows in silent question, but could see that Christa really didn’t want to offer up any explanation. “Sure, no problem.” He answered, and they walked in silence side by side to his truck. Christa climbed in and Mario followed suit, looking over at her, concerned. Christa looked exhausted and heartbroken. “You okay?” He questioned.

Christa stared straight ahead, “I’ll be fine.” She said. Mario understood not wanting to talk, and they drove in companionable silence, Christa only speaking when she said thanks and waved by to Mario. Before Mario pulled away, he shot a quick text to Malaya,

                                                _…Hey, I just dropped Christa off_

_check on her later I think something_

_went down with her and DrH_

 

****

Leanne entered her office to see Neal slumped in one of her guest chairs, fiddling with a pen in one hand. He looked up at hearing the door open, Leanne looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she shut the door behind her.

“I was wondering if I’d have to come find you, thanks for making it easier.” Leanne said as she settled into the chair beside Neal. He looked at her puzzled. “Oh come on, you think I can’t see? Daddy knows everything” she smirked.

“I don’t want to go home yet. “ Neal said. He looked over at Leanne with a sad smile, “I’m hiding too.”

They sat there for a few minutes in silence. Leanne looking at Neal expectantly, waiting for him to organize his thoughts into words.

“What happened Neal?” Leanne finally asked softly.

Neal stared at an invisible spot on the wall. “I’m not entirely sure.” He said softly. Leanne snorted out a short laugh, causing Neal to whip his head to the side to look incredulously at her.

“That’s bullshit Neal, and you know it” Leanne called him out. “You know exactly what happened.”

Neal stared at Leanne, her gaze never wavering from his, her eyes encouraging him to let it all out. So he began to speak.

“Grace came back. It’s been over a year since she left, and not a word since. I was shocked to see her in the ER that day. Christa asked me then what Grace was to me, and all I said was ‘we used to date’.” Leanne raised an eyebrow at this information. Neal nodded at her, agreeing with her silent comment. “I know. I should have told her then. All of it. But I honestly didn’t think it mattered in that moment. Grace would leave again and that would be it. Then she stayed. Grace is back. I have been fooling myself that it was all fine. I am angry with her, but at the same time, I still feel like her friend and sometimes it’s hard not to fall back into old habits. And all the while, Christa is waiting patiently for me to open up to her, talk to her, and I brush it all aside, like it’s nothing. But it is something – to her.“ Neal sighed. “Christa heard today that I originally was going to go to Haiti with Grace. She asked me about it. I tried to brush her off and tell her not to be insecure.” Neal smiled a little. “She called me out – told me not to cast her in the role of needy girlfriend, that she was better than that.”

Leanne nodded in agreement. “Good for her. She’s right.”

Neal huffed. “I know that. Any insecurity I was hearing from her was my own fault. I didn’t give her any information.  So I told her that I asked Grace to marry me and she said no.” Neal looked over at Leanne, he shifted in his seat and ran a hand through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck. “Her face when I told her that, she looked shocked, then sad. Then she walked away. I should have said something then.”

Neal got up and paced a little around Leanne’s office.

“After the surgery, I was talking with Grace in the corridor. We were talking about the Janitor. It’s hard, not to fall back into the way it was with Grace,  we were good friends first. Grace had her hand on mine.  I just stared at it. It was surreal, and memories came flooding back.  Then I looked up, and there was Christa, looking at me, so disappointed, and in disbelief. I’m sure it looked bad.  I got up and went to her, she was already walking away…” Neal trailed off.

“Did you just let her walk away?” Leanne asked.

“No.” Neal choked out. “No, I called to her, I was going to try to explain, but she had something to say.” Neal sat back on the chair, and held his head in his hands while his elbows rested on his knees. He looked up at Leanne. “She said she ‘couldn’t do this’. That she had been married, had a child. She said she “wouldn’t be anyone’s second choice.” Leanne’s eyes widened at the information. Inwardly incredibly proud of Christa for knowing her worth, yet sad for her friend, who was obviously hurting. Neal kept speaking. “As soon as she mentioned being married, her child, it hit me like a sledgehammer. It must have felt like I was leaving her too…like they did.” His voice rose, angry with himself “I caused her pain. I never wanted to do that, I –“ He broke off., slumped back in his chair. “So I let her go.  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t follow after her. She deserves better than I’m giving her right now. I didn’t even know what to say to her.”

In a rare fit of anger, Neal tossed the pen against the wall with some force. “It bloody well doesn’t feel right thought.”

Leanne sat silent for a few minutes, processing all that Neal had told her.

“Let me ask you something Neal, and I want you to be honest.” Neal looked at Leanne, “I’m always honest.” He said indignantly.

“I know that” she said with a smile. “But be honest with yourself.” She waited until he gave her a nod to indicate she should carry on. “Do you still love Grace?”

Neal’s eyes widened, and he answered “No. Not in that way. I care about her. I want her to be happy. I want to be her friend. I want to know what happened a year ago. But love her? I don’t think so.” He paused, and looked Leanne in the eyes, “she was right to say no back then you know.”

Leanne nodded and reached over and put a hand on her friend’s knee. “I think you need to decide exactly was it is you want, and how you feel. Then you need to have a serious discussion with Grace, and get your closure. Then you need to have a discussion with Christa.” She pulled back and gave him a wry smile, and turned on her lecturing tone. “A discussion Neal. Those are both two strong women, you need to get out of your head and actually talk to them.” Neal nodded and got up to leave. “Thank you” He said to her, and strode out the door.

Leanne sighed and stared at Neal’s retreating back. She really hoped these kids figure their shit out soon.

***

Neal went home after his talk with Leanne, and as he had suspected, it felt weird being there alone. He was so used to having Christa there with him.  Neal felt a pang of regret and sadness wash over him at the sight of small things in his apartment that reminded him of Christa, which in turn reminded him of how he had hurt her. She hadn’t been living with him per say, but she had a toothbrush here, her favorite wine was in his fridge, and there were a few hair ties scattered on the nightstand. Neal looked at his watch, 10:30 am. This was their switchover day, the worked the next day shift, so Christa might still be up. He ignored Leanne’s advice about the order of things, made a split second decision to go try to talk to her.

Neal pulled into the driveway behind Christa’s car, and walked into the backyard of the house. Christa lived in a small guesthouse behind a house that belonged to a friend of hers. He knocked on the door that was painted a sunny yellow. The door swung open, and Christa looked surprised to see him standing there. “Neal? What are you doing here?” Christa’s eyes looked a little red rimmed, and Neal’s chest clenched knowing that he was the cause.

“Can we talk?”

“Neal.” She sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”

“Please Christa,” Neal pleaded with her. “Can we just talk for a few moments. I just need to say a few things.” Christa pursed her lips, Neal could see that she was struggling with the decision in her mind. She finally relented, “OK”, swinging the door open to let him enter.

Neal came in and they stood in her living room, looking at each other, Christa’s arms crossed in front of her, looking a little uncomfortable, seeming to brace herself.

“Christa, I’m so sorry.” Neal started, “Please, we can fix this.” She stared into her blue eyes, watery with unshed tears. “I don’t see you as a second choice, I never meant to hurt you.”

“Neal, but you did. You are the first person that I’ve let in here since…everything” Christa said pointing to the left side of her chest. “You should have just been honest with me from the moment she arrived. And I think you should have been honest with yourself before that even.” Neal looked at her startled, not quite sure what she meant.

Christa spoke kind and gently. “Neal, you loved Grace enough to ask her to marry you a little over a year ago. I know what that feels like. It’s worth having a conversation with yourself, you know, figure some stuff out. With everything I’ve experienced, I know that I am not willing to be anything but someone’s first choice. I won’t settle for love that’s less than that.” Christ wiped away a tear that had escaped her eyes. “You should probably go now. We both need some time to think.” Christa attempted a small smile. Neal didn’t say anything, he stepped forward, cupped her face in his hand and leaned in to kiss her lips. Christa was surprised, but she kissed him back, Neal deepened the kiss and pulled her into his embrace. She broke away abruptly with a sob, pushing gently against his chest. “You should go” she choked out, not meeting his eyes. Neal stepped back, gave her a quick affirmative nod and left. Feeling worse off than when he had arrived.

 

***

The next weeks were hard, and awkward. Neither Neal nor Christa knew what to say to each other, though they each wanted to talk. Christa could only describe herself as jumpy. She was apprehensive about running into Grace and Neal together. She hadn’t yet, and she just assumed, since Neal hadn’t really spoken to her at all in the last month, hadn’t brought anything up, that he and Grace were working things out…her heart broke a little each time she thought about it. The other residents had been staying out of it – mostly since Christa didn’t want to talk about it. Then four weeks in, Malaya had had enough. She chatted with the OR nurses, and with her friends in other departments. When Christa drove her home after shift, Malaya blurted out, “He’s not with her you know.”

Christa glanced quickly over at Malaya, “What are you talking about?” Malaya made a face at Christa. “Grace. Neal is not with her.” Christa visibly swallowed, “How do you know?” She asked quietly.

“I have sources.” Malaya smiled. “Actually, word is that Grace and Campbell are dating.” Christa rose her eyebrows in surprise, focused on the road in front of her. She pulled up in front of Malaya’s apartment, and as she got out, Christa smiled at her friend and thanked her warmly. She was lucky to have a friend looking out for her.  Malaya offered one last thought before she shut the door of Christa’s car. “I really think you need to talk to him. You’re obviously miserable, and I bet he is too.” Malaya offered a sympathetic smile, shut the door and walked up the steps to her apartment building, waving at Christa as she went inside.

Christa drove home, thinking about what Malaya had said. She knew she wasn’t quite ready to talk yet, but she felt a little lighter, and didn’t dread going into work tonight quite as much as before.

 

***

Christa had slept well for the first time in weeks, but a result, combined with an accident causing a traffic nightmare, she was running late for shift. She hurried down the hall toward the locker room and quite literally ran into Neal. “Whoa!” He exclaimed, steadying her as she ran into him. Christa flushed, “Sorry”, she grimaced, “Running late again.” She sidestepped around him, and gave him a bright smile. “See you later.” And she hurried off. Neal stood there for a few moments, staring after her retreating back, a smile on his face, glad to have had even the smallest non-work related conversation with her, and to have been the recipient of her sunshine smile once again.

 It was a busy shift, and it was hours later when Christa finally got a break.  She went outside and sat on the steps, leaning back on the stone step, closing her eyes, relaxing and enjoying the cool night air on her face.

“Hello.”

Christa’s eyes flew open at the familiar voice, and saw Neal standing above her, hands in the pockets of his scrubs, staring down at her with an amused smirk on his face. “Hey” she answered, not moving from her relaxed pose.

“Mind if I join you?” Neal asked

“Of course not” She smiled. Neal settled on the step beside her and echoed her position. This was sort of their spot, they had spent many breaks out on the big stone staircase in front of the hospital. If Christa was being honest with herself, she would admit that she had been avoiding their spot, not wanting to run into Neal.  They sat in companionable silence, neither feeling the need to speak. Christa smiled to herself, happy to be comfortable in his presence once again.  She could admit now how desperately she has missed this. She glanced over at Neal several moments later, only to find him looking at her, and it made her blush a little, wondering how long he had been.

Neal had been looking at her the entire time, happy in the silence, though part of him wanted to say something, finally talk. He really didn’t want to rock the boat. He got up, “I have to get back – you going in yet?” Christa nodded, and he held out a hand to her. She grasped his proffered hand, and let him help her up. She didn’t let go right away, she hadn’t had any contact with him in so long, and she had missed it. She finally let go and they walked side by side back into the hospital, going their separate ways once inside, with just a look and a wave.

***

Neal walked into Trauma 1, he eyes scanning around, looking for Christa. He wanted to ask her to have coffee or dinner or something, try to talk and see where they stood. It had been a few weeks since their moment on the steps, and since then, they had fallen back into a slightly guarded friendship.  It was quiet in the ER for now, and he didn’t see Christa or any of the other residents around.  Maybe they had all taken advantage of the lull and gone on a break or for lunch.  Neal was just about to head towards the cafeteria, when he heard a voice behind him. “She’s not here today.”

Neal turned around to find Leanne giving him her knowing look. Neal looked a little embarrassed, “What do you mean she’s not here today? Is she sick?” Neal questioned.

“She took a personal day.” Leanne answered. Neal looked a little puzzled, and Leanne elaborated. “It’s spring – almost Easter actually.” Suddenly the significance dawned on Neal, and without a word to Leanne, he hurried down the hall to find Campbell and see if he could clear the rest of the day.

A short time later, Neal pulled up in front of Christa’s place, and saw that her car was still in the driveway. He made his way into the back and was just about to knock on her yellow door, when it swung open. Christa jumped back startled, almost dropping the tote she carried, “Neal! What are you doing here?” Neal looked down and shuffled his feet back and forth a bit nervously, suddenly unsure about his decision to come over.

“Do you want some company today?” Neal asked her.

Christa’s gaze softened, her surprised expression relaxed into a gentle smile. Her heart swelled with happiness despite what this day signified to her. “I think I would” she said softly. She joined him on the patio, locking the door as he took the tote from her.  They got into his car, and as they strapped in, Neal turned to her. “Where are we headed?”

“To the beach”

“all right.” Neal nodded, as he pulled out onto the street. Neither said much, save for Christa giving the occasional direction. Finally they pulled into the parking lot overlooking a small sandy beach.  It was March, and even though the weather was warm today, the beach was deserted.  Christa made no move to exit the car, so Neal waited.

“It’s been 7 years since James died.” She looked over at Neal. “This is the first year I haven’t been alone on this day. Thank you.” She said simply. Neal answered with a nod, and they both got out of the car. Neal carried the tote and followed Christa down the steps to the sand, where they both removed their shoes and carried them to the water’s edge. Christa pulled a blanket from the tote and spread it out on the sand. They sat side by side on the blanket both digging their toes into the sand in front of them.  A long time passed in silence, then Christa began to speak. She told him about how James’ favourite place was the beach, and how he would play for hours in the sand building roads for his toy cars. She told him funny stories, and then she told him about when he got sick, and how hard those years had been. Her voice started to crack a little with emotion, and Neal put his arm around her and pulled her into his side, rubbing his hand up and down her arm as she rested her head on his shoulder and continued to talk, telling Neal all about her little boy.  She had told him a little before, and he knew that it had been around Easter when he died. The memories poured out of Christa, they laughed together at some funny stories, and he held her tighter for the sad ones. She told him about her ex-husband, and what had happened after James had passed. She stopped talking, she was emotionally exhausted, and they sat in comfortable silence for a while. After a bit, Neal laid back on the blanket, pulling Christa back with him. They laid there for a long time, completely relaxed, until Christa broke the silence. “I think we missed lunch, want to go get an early supper?”

Neal looked over at her, squinting into the sunlight. He was in awe of this beautiful woman, her strength, her sensitivity and her determination. In that moment, with the sun glinting off her hair, Neal leaned over and kissed her softly. He then got up quickly, hauling her up with him. “shall we go then?” he commented. Christa stared at him for a moment, and decided against bringing up the fact that he had just kissed her. It had felt right in the moment and she didn’t want to ruin anything by reading too much into it right now. She nodded slowly and picked up the blanket, shaking the sand off it and stuffing it in to the tote.

They decided to grab some take out, and go back and eat it at Christa’s place. She really wasn’t in the mood to be around other people, and sitting in a restaurant held no appeal.  Once back at Christa’s place, they gravitated to her comfy couch with the takeout and put a movie on the tv. Christa sat curled up on the chaise end of her couch, and Neal settled in near her, not wanting to be too far away.  They ate in companionable silence, the quiet broken by their occasional laughter at the movie on the screen.  By the time the credits rolled, Christa was reclining back on the chaise, and Neal was sprawled over the rest of the couch, feet hanging over the far armrest and his head pillowed on Christa’s thigh.  She absently ran her fingers through his hair, as she had done many times before.  Neal turned his head in her lap to look up at her, and found her looking down at him.

“Thank you for spending the day with me,” she said quietly, with a small smile on her face, her fingers still playing lightly with his hair.

“Thank you for letting me” he replied, his voice raspy. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of her fingers in her hair.

“Neal, I’m so sorry,” Christa whispered. Neal’s eyes flew open, questioning her with his eyes. She continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder. I’m sorry I was so scared.” Her voice cracked a little with emotion.

“Christa,” he said tenderly, and sat up beside her. He grabbed her hand and stroked his fingers along her knuckles. “You don’t have to be sorry.” They looked at each other with such reverence. “I’m sorry too. I should have fought too, I should have explained. I made a bloody mess of everything.” Christa let out a laugh at his choice of words. “I think we equally contributed to the mess.” She said with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow.

Neal shifted to face her, “Christa” he started, holding her gaze and not wavering. He reached up and brushed a strand of blond hair off her forehead. “Back then, I was in love… I thought. I asked her to marry me the day before we were to leave to go to Haiti. She said no, she didn’t think we needed to change how things were. She left, I stayed. There was not much in the way of closure, so it was a shock to see her again. The thing is, I realized a long time ago that it must not have been true love. If we had truly loved each other, she wouldn’t have gone, and I wouldn’t have let her. Or we would have worked harder to work something out. We just gave up.” Christa’s eyes stared back at him, full of emotion. Neal took a deep breath and continued. “I almost did it again…giving up. But I know that I really do not want to do that. I’m going to wait as long as it takes until you are ready, until you can forgive me and until you aren’t scared anymore.”

Christa’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and she launched herself at Neal, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck, holding on tight. Neal, startled, reflexively wrapped his arms around her and held on just as tight. After a few moments, Christa loosened her grip on Neal’s neck and pulled back to look him in the eyes. She gave him a small crooked smile. “There is nothing to forgive. And I’m ready.” She leaned in and kissed him hard on the lips. “I’m not saying that I’m not a bit scared still…but it’s worth it.  You are worth it.”

Neal looked at her a bit stunned, and a wide smile spread across his face. He reached up and cupped her face in his hands, kissed her softly, then drew back to stare intently in her eyes. He whispered, “I will do everything I can to make sure you feel safe and secure. I’m not saying I won’t mess up ever, but I promise to be honest and I promise to talk to you.”

Christa smiled at him, her eyes still watery with tears of joy. “I promise all of that too. I will try not to get all up in my head.” Neal laughed at that, and Christa smiled back with a wide bright smile. Neal then moved slowly, pushing her back on to the couch, hovering over her. “I’ve missed you.” He said, voice raspy with desire. Her hand gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him down closer to her. “I’ve missed you too. So much” She replied. He lowers his head down to capture her lips in his. The kiss is soft and lingering, and Christa gasps a little when he breaks away. Neal looks down at her, he swallows visibly, and Christa can tell he’s thinking too much, the English gentleman side is taking over, and he is probably trying to tell himself to slow down.

Christa pulls him back toward her, “stop thinking and kiss me” she whispers in his ear. With that, Neal devours her lips, nipping and sucking, his tongue pressing inside. Christa moans deep in her throat, returning his kisses with the same fervour. Neal breaks away and presses kisses down the side of her neck, laving his tongue over the hollow near her collar bone, eliciting a sensual groan from Christa. That spot never fails to turn her to putty. Christa’s hands dance down his back, gripping his t-shirt and pulling it up towards his head. Neal sits up on his knees, and takes his shirt the rest of the way off, his eyes never leaving hers. She pushes herself up on her elbows, quirks an eyebrow up at him and smiles. “Neal. Take me to bed.” She demands. With that, Neal scrambles off the couch, hauling her up to him in the same motion. He kisses her soundly as he guides her backwards toward the bedroom.

In the bedroom, he stares at her with such intensity as he removes her shirt that she shivers in anticipation. He slips her pants down and she is left standing there in just her simple cotton bra and boy short style underwear. He runs his hands over her body, bringing her close for a deep kiss. Her hands find their way to the waistband of his pants, and she undoes them, pushing them down so they drop to the floor at their feet. She then reaches behind her, unclasping her bra, and tossing it aside. Neal rests a hand at her waist, and cups the back of her head in his hand. “You’re beautiful” he says quietly, and lowers her gently to the bed. He starts at her stomach, and kisses his way up, giving equal attention to each breast before meeting her lips again. He wants to go slow, but his body craves her, it has been so long. Christa moans into Neal’s mouth, arching against his hand that had found its way to her centre and was currently teasing her clit through her panties. He sits up, quickly divesting himself and her of the last of their clothing. He crawled back over her, nipping kisses up her body on the way. Christa gasped out loud, “Neal – please I need you.” She rasped out. Neal wastes no time as he slides home, Christa arching up off the bed, crying out in ecstasy and Neal keeps a brisk pace, grinding in and out. Christa groans as her orgasm rips through her and Neal cries out her name, collapsing on the bed, pulling Christa with him so as not to crush her. They both lay there, panting, sated and spent. They fell asleep, the emotion of the day finally catching up with them.

Christa woke first, the late morning sunlight streaming through the bedroom window. They had slept in late, for Neal had woken her again early in the morning hours to slowly worship her body and ‘make up for the quick shag’ as he had put it. Christa had laughed, but gladly went along for the ride.

She watched him sleep for a little while before running her fingers through his hair and down his face to wake him up. He groaned and rolled onto his side, trapping Christa against him. She giggled, and pushed against him. “It’s time to wake up.” She exclaims. “Good morning my darling,” he rasps, pulling her hand up to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

“Yes, it is a good morning” she says with a sly look as she climbs on top of him. He smiles back up at her, they don’t work until that night, and he doesn’t plan on vacating the bed anytime soon.

***

Shift that night started in Code black, so everyone had hit the ground running and had not stopped until 4 hours had passed. Christa headed to the breakroom where Malaya and Angus were already sitting at the table eating a random assortment of food choices from the cafeteria. She poured herself a coffee and went to see what she could snag from the collection on the table, when the door opened and she looked over to see Neal striding in. Christa smiled at him as Angus and Malaya greeted him between mouthfuls of food. Neal nodded hello to them “Angus, Malaya how are you?” he inquired politely, though not waiting to hear their answer as he stared intently at Christa.

“Dr. Lorenson.” He stated simply.

“Dr. Hudson,” she said back with a little smirk. Angus and Malaya exchanged questioning glances with each other, curious to see how this strange interaction was going to play out.

Neal stepped closer to Christa, wrapped a hand around the side of her hip, pulled her closer and kissed her slowly and deeply. When they broke their kiss, Christa looked slightly stunned, surprised that Neal would be so openly affectionate at work and in front of others as well. He smirked at her expression and whispered so only she could hear, “let’s do things a little different now.” He gave her hip a last squeeze as he stepped away from her. The looks on Angus and Malaya’s faces was priceless. They were both staring, wide eyed and mid-bite, shooting glances between the two standing in front of them.

He directed an amused look in their direction, and turned back to Christa. “This might be my only break, it’s been a crazy night - I’ll meet you after shift?”

Christa blinked. “Yes. Yes – sounds good” she answered with a smile.

Neal’s phone chimed at that moment, “Ok, I’m needed upstairs.” He said, after reading the message. He kissed Christa quickly on the cheek, and waved to Angus and Malaya as left the breakroom.

“So that happened.” Angus stated, breaking the stunned silence in the room.

Christa laughed and joined them at the table. Malaya tossed her a bag of pretzels “ _When_ did that happen?” she questioned.

“When did what happen?” Mario questioned as he entered the room and caught the tail end of Malaya’s inquiry. He joined them at the table, snagging a bag of chips.

“Yesterday” Christa answered with a happy smile. Mario looked confused, so Angus filled him in, “Christa and Dr. Hudson have finally pulled their heads out of their asses.”

“Angus!” Christa and Malaya exclaimed at the same time as Mario commented “it’s about time.”

“Seriously though,” Mario said, munching on the chips, “I was about to resort to locking you two in a supply closet until you came to your senses.” Christa blushed, while the other laughed.

 

Malaya laid a hand on Christa’s arm with a smile, “We’re all really happy that you found your way back to each other.” Christa gave a grateful smile in return. “Thank you.” Everyone’s phones started to go off, signalling the need for them to all return to trauma 1. 

 

***

After a long and exhausting shift, Christa made her way out the ER doors to wait for Neal outside. She stood in the cool morning air, breathing it in, waking up a little.

“There you are.” She heard, and she turned around to see Neal coming up to her, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. She smiled in greeting, and gasped as Neal caught her off guard, his hand coming to her waist as he walked her back until her back met the brick wall behind her.  His lips descended on hers, and he trapped her against the wall with a hand placed on either side of her body. She let out a surprised squeak, and then threw her arms around his neck, returning the kiss with equal fervour. They kissed passionately, lost in each other, until they heard a delicate throat clearing. Christa and Neal broke apart, and turned in the direction of the sound, to find an amused Leanne Rorish standing there.  Neal returned her amused grin, while Christa blushed a bright red.

“Hello Leanne,” Neal said cheekily.

“While I am very happy that you both have come to your senses,” she said, motioning her hand between them and raising an eyebrow, “this is hardly the place.” She shook her head and continued walking, throwing back over her shoulder, “at least wait until you get to your car.” Leanne walked away, her smile wide as she texted Jesse the good news.

Fin

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked! Comments always appreciated!


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